The events of the last week clearly demonstrate that the movement for democracy, freedom and economic prosperity has been pushed underground by the military junta which controls Zimbabwe. This had been clear to some of us who know the vile maxim of this dictatorship. But I think by now more and more people I now realising that the pursuit of constitutionalism while living under a military dictatorship is a daft idea, it’s otiose, it’s akin to chasing the wind. In this post I adumbrate the ways in which to effectively demonstrate against this regime. Personally, I believe the public should only demonstrate once the progressive leadership builds an understanding with progressive elements in the military because I believe the only people who can remove this oppressive regime are men in uniform and for our sake these man ought to be the right kind of men i.e progressives who have the same desire for democracy and functionality in Zimbabwe.
Nonetheless, before setting off on demonstrations, it’s important to take measures which increase probability of success and these include the following:
- People need to be brave and angry at the junta and everything it represents before they even think about demonstrating.
- Anger does not come overnight. One of the the things people can do is develop a 24/7 pirate radio where this anger is fuelled and fortified with special messages about the need for regime change.
- It’s hard to inculcate bravery into people. For Zimbabweans, the biggest impediments to bravery are selfishness and individualism which are a result of too much scholastic knowledge (especially of the law). These impediments constitute what I call a ‘middle class mentality,’ whereby Zimbabweans think they are too educated and too posh to engage in street politics to improves the lives of all and would rather rely on their wits and educational qualifications to improve their individual socio-economic situation. Bravery will only come if people eradicate this natural tendency to look at the oppression in the country through the prism of middle class sofa political analyses. In Shona ‘izvi hazvidi data izvi, hazvidi ruzivo rwemitemo yenyika, zvinoda kushinga neginya’. The pirate 24/7 radio will play an important role in motivating people.
- For demos to be effective they need to be concurrent nationwide. It’s important to stretch the resources of the Gestapo police as hard as possible. So demos have to happen concurrently in Harare, Bulawayo, Gweru, Kwekwe, Mutare, Chitungwiza, Kadoma, Masvingo, everywhere. This emphasises the importance of pirate radio and rigorous coordination of the demos. This includes putting out false information about demos in order to wrong foot the Gestapos. For demos to be effective, at least a total of 1 million people need to be participating across the country.
- Part of the preparation of the demos should include precautions and safety attire. People need to make tear gas masks, carry loads of water and build homemade bulletproof vests. Most importantly people need to carry self defence tools so that they can defend themselves against the police. A demo can’t be effective if 50 000 people are being beaten up and chased around by 1000 coppers. It’s time to refuse being intimidated by these Gestapos. Moreover, before setting out on a demo, some people need to be assigned the task of providing effective first aid support to casualties. This means that each demo needs to have enough first aid tools. Yup, this means some stealth fundraising will need to be carried out. Luckily, the diaspora especially the lot in the UK are well placed to raise funds and have been doing so for a while now.
- Now demos do not necessarily have to be directed at central government. There is an infestation of parasitic characters in Zimbabwe who benefit from corruption. These men and women include the lot we see driving Lamborghinis and the soapy men in suits who praise this government while holding bibles e.g top management at ZIMRA, parastatals, water and electricity, the governor of RBZ and those ghastly PAC members. Some demos should be directed at these people who as we know can be found in every major town of the country.
- There is no point in going out on a demo with only your feet to show your defiance because you will get bollocked by the Gestapos. If the demo is not properly organised it should not go ahead. If the things I’ve listed here are not in place it’s suicidal to go out into the streets against this regime. This includes the all important alliance with progressives in the military.
By
Terence Rusirevi
Information and Publicity